Brooke Kennedy
Floerke
English 100 H
Essay 1 Revision
14 October 2013
The Journey of What’s Right or Wrong Christopher embarks on a journey full of mystery, self-discovery and bravery, while taking risks and doing things he would earlier avoid, such as speaking to strangers, straying from his routine and throwing himself into the unknown. There are many obstacles that test Christopher throughout his life, one major hardship he faces is how to function daily and make personal connections. In all aspects of the novel Christopher’s morals are challenged in ways he cant quiet understand. With Christopher’s Autism, it puts him in a vulnerable state, which he soon gains courage to overcome. Many Questions are asked about the abilities of Autistic people, and to what capacity can the make right and wrong decisions. Autistic people are challenged every second of everyday by their own minds. According to the organization “Autism Speaks”, autism is a group of complex disorders of brain development; these disorders are characterized, in varying degrees, by difficulties in social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication and repetitive behaviors. When an Autistic persons mind is running a mile a minute, when is there time to sort out morality? In Christopher Boone’s case, he doesn’t know how to respond, for example, when Christopher discovers Wellington and gets questioned about the dog, Christopher becomes very troubled and vulnerable. Once the police officer tries to touch Christopher he lashes out. Christopher’s response shows that he could not find the right response to show emotion towards. To make it more understandable, Philosopher Jeannette Kennett, writes in her essay “Autism, Empathy, and Moral Agency”, on whether or not people with autism can make moral decisions. Kennett explains why Autistic people can possibly gain moral agency with or without empathy. Jeannette Kennett’s concern about Autism and empathy arises when talking in regards of moral agency and moral competency. Moral agency is the ability of a person to be able to see someone who puts others feelings into account when making a decision on what is the right thing to do, which Christopher has made apparent signs of doing. Can someone who cannot gain a sense of empathy, have to ability to judge right from wrong? Kennett supports the idea that autistic individuals are able to possess an ability to form moral agency while the lack of empathy by the development through alternate means (Kennett 349). Even though Christopher is considered to be incompatible at expressing his feelings, it shows through his actions and proves the existence of his moral agency. His father gets really upset when Christopher wants to investigate Wellington's death, he notices this and decides he should stop talking because he doesn't want him to get even angrier. Christopher has difficult times in understanding the emotions of others, but he is able to judge the response given. He also comes across his dad tearing and connects that to being sad, "I decided to leave him alone because when I am sad I want to be left alone" (Haddon 21). He bases his decision off of what he knows about his loved ones, and how he would feel with his own feelings. Christopher’s challenges to live with his disability are hardships he faces daily. There are many decisions that people make everyday without even thinking, Christopher struggles to decide if the decisions he is making are right or wrong. Jeanette Kennett’s thoughts help to better understand what happens when Christopher has a situation arise. Kennett says that “Able Autistic people may attempt to run simulations of other peoples mental states in developing the rules, or in applying them in particular cases run into problems, since they do not have the capacity to imagine responses which differ from their own”(Kennett 351). With Kennett’s view on how Autistic people can make decisions, she also says that it appears that they can develop moral rules and principles of conduct for themselves by reasoning. Just like Christopher does in the novel, he uses his methods of reasoning to make decisions as the novel progresses. Although many people remain skeptical on whether or not people with autism can make right or wrong decisions, it has become clear to me. I believe that many could find that people with autism are just like anyone else. They have the ability to put their emotions into account in situations; their ways of using their emotions are just more sophisticated, organized, and reasoned. In many ways people with Autism work harder than people like you and me, they embark on a much more treacherous journey through life then I could ever imagine. Autistic people work harder to try to show that they are capable and willing to gain empathy to use in their lives.

Works sited Haddon, Mark. The curious incident of the dog in the night-time. New York: Doubleday, 2003. Print. "Home | Autism Speaks." Home | Autism Speaks. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Oct. 2013. <http://www.autismspeaks.org>. Kennett, Jeanette. "Autism, Empathy And Moral Agency." The Philosophical Quarterly 52.208 (2002): 340-357. Print.